Keep Clothing Organized

Finding clothes in the morning can be a real chore. We found a convenient rolling cart with 10 drawers. They’re not huge drawers, but they are just big enough to hold a full set of clothes every day. Uniform, shirt, shorts, underwear and socks. Now obviously there are only 5 days in a school week, so the other drawers get extras. A drawer for shirts, one for shorts etc. We also keep alternatives, like uniform pants in one in case it is supposed to be super cold. I like having an extra supply of socks and underwear on hand at all times, so the extra drawers definitely come in handy.

Prep Lunch the Night Before

Making a whole lunch takes too much time. Prep lunch the night before. Have your little one pick out a fruit, snack, dessert, and drink before going to bed and then place them all together in a central location. The next morning, you just put together a sandwich (or did you see our inventive new Toasted Cups recipe using Nature’s Harvest® Bread?) and you can get your little one out the door. Hint, this trick works for the not so little ones too.

Create a Kids Cubby

Do you have a hard time finding all your kid’s stuff that needs to go with them in the morning? Try a Kids Cubby (or Kid’s Corner). We don’t have a mudroom so we put up some command hooks near the door to the Garage for our daughter’s backpack and jacket. When she comes home every day she knows where to hang up her stuff so and that’s where it stays. We know where to go to look for papers and where to put them when homework is done. Everything that is school related stays in that central location until mom or dad removes it. This helps our little one learn responsibility, organizational skills, and cuts down on running around like crazy in the morning trying to figure out where all of her books and papers are.

Establish and Enforce Bedtime

It’s hard to go from staying up until midnight during the summer to going to bed at 10. Uhh, wait, those aren’t our real bedtimes. Seriously. More like…9 during the summer and 7 during school. Right? That’s believable. And we stick to it. But whatever their bedtime is, start getting them used to it before school starts, not the night of. And start waking them up a little earlier than noon. Warning, morning coffee may be required. For you, not them.

Read Together Every Night

Help them get ahead by reading to them at bedtime. This is one we continued through the summer, not just during the school year. A little every night goes a long way. A kid’s book or a chapter or a larger book is all it takes. We have a set time and read together for 15 minutes every night before going to bed. Some nights we read to her and sometimes she reads to us. My husband and I take turns so we both get a feel for any words our daughter is struggling with, sounds, etc… This allows us to put a plan together on how to approach any “problem” areas before they actually become a “problem” ;).

So, these are just a few of our secrets or perhaps I should say helpful hints that keep our morning, for the most part, going smoothly. What are yours?

Let’s get the conversation started, leave your tips below!

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About Heather Pfingsten

I’m a 30-something Mother and Wife living in the Midwest, more specifically, Cincinnati, OH. My life passions include my family, entertainment, travel, everything food, reading, couponing (yes, I am one of those), product reviews, deal hunting, and general gab (hence the degree in Communication). I love to take in knowledge about anything that I can get my hands on; everything from a new book, the latest technology, to a new recipe.

I’m a 30-something Mother and Wife living in the Midwest, more specifically, Cincinnati, OH. My life passions include my family, entertainment, travel, everything food, reading, couponing (yes, I am one of those), product reviews, deal hunting, and general gab (hence the degree in Communication). I love to take in knowledge about anything that I can get my hands on; everything from a new book, the latest technology, to a new recipe.